This series celebrates the Gullah-Geechee way of life and that influence on what we typically describe as “Southern Culture”. The Gullah people were imported from various regions in Africa by slavers and became the backbone of the coastal plantations. They transformed the Low Country with their knowledge of agriculture, boating and fishing. The Gullah always believe that “it takes a community”.. In the Coastal Empire, the Gullah set up an alternate civilization noted for its arts, herbal medicine and horticulture. They wrote the cookbook for the South. Crafts from Africa, like Sweetgrass basket making, are still practiced by families using distinctive patterns. Gullah slaves, highly skilled craftspeople, built Charleston and Savannah, with a grace and charm that only now are they being given credit for. As the plantation era ended, many Gullah became recluses on the Sea Island's former plantations on the coast. These descendants preserve the past through their own language, arts, craft, song, story telling and spirituality. My paintings celebrate the unique persona of the Gullah.The happiness that exists in everyday appreciation for the gifts of the sun, the sea, the plants and animals that make up a simpler universe ... complex only if you are without your Faith.